08/08/1973 - Elmer Wayne Henley, protege of Dean Arnold Corll, holds his head in his hands as Houston Police detective Karl Siebeneicher questions him outside the boat shed (at rear) where many of the bodies of the victims of the sex and torture ring were buried. less

08/08/1973 - Elmer Wayne Henley, protege of Dean Arnold Corll, holds his head in his hands as Houston Police detective Karl Siebeneicher questions him outside the boat shed (at rear) where many of the bodies ... more

08/08/1973 - Waiting in an officer's car while bodies were being recovered, Elmer Wayne Henley led police to a boatshed full of buried bodies in south Houston. Henley had earlier told police he fatally shot Dean Corll in the early morning of Aug. 8, 1973, after hours of drinking and glue sniffing at Corll's house in Pasadena. less

08/08/1973 - Waiting in an officer's car while bodies were being recovered, Elmer Wayne Henley led police to a boatshed full of buried bodies in south Houston. Henley had earlier told police he fatally shot ... more

08/1973 - Curious try to peer into courtroom during hearing for Elmer Wayne Henley and David Owen Brooks. Judge ordered windows covered due to alleged death threats against accused murderers. Published August 22, 1973. less

08/1973 - Curious try to peer into courtroom during hearing for Elmer Wayne Henley and David Owen Brooks. Judge ordered windows covered due to alleged death threats against accused murderers. Published August ... more

Seventeen-year-old Elmer Wayne Henley called Houston police on Aug. 8, 1973, to say that he’d shot Dean A. Corll, 33. The immediate reason — he feared for his life — was just the tip of the iceberg.

Henley then unloaded to police about his connection to Corll, who it turns out, paid Henley and another teen, David Owen Brooks, to lure other teen boys over to Corll’s house. Corll would then sexually torture the captive. Usually, the victim was killed the same day, his body stored in a wooden box until he was eventually buried somewhere in Houston.

Henley and Brooks took officers to three different burial spots where they unearthed 27 bodies. One was later thought to not be related to the case because of differences in the state of the body.

Henley’s trial was moved to San Antonio in January 1974 for a change in venue; the case was said to have received too much publicity in Houston.

The publicity just continued in San Antonio. Initially the trial was set to be closed to the public, but the judge changed his mind. Testimony began on July 8.

The courtroom didn’t have enough seats for all the reporters. Seven daily papers, including the three locals and the New York Times, a national news magazine, three press services, four TV stations and seven radio stations all had representatives. Staffer John W. Gonzalez covered the trial and said the paper had someone come just to be a seat holder in case he had to get up for any reason. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be a seat to come back to. The Travelodge down the street donated a room where those reporters without seats could listen.

The News and the Light almost caused a mistrial by contacting jurors families for comment. One of those “we don’t do that anymore” moments: the names of prospective jurors and their occupations were included in stories about jury selection leading up to the trial.

The Express skipped over the details, but still included drawings by their cartoonist Bob Dale, of the “body box” (pictured above) and other items of evidence.

The News, known for its more, um, provocative take on the news of the day, had to include this note with its coverage of the trial: “READERS: Details of testimony published here as part of the public news report of an important court case may be shocking or offensive in language and subject matter.” Let’s just say they did NOT skip over the details in terms of describing the sexual torture.

Henley, by the way, was “no-billed” in the killing of Corll, which was said to be self-defense. He was only being tried for six murders, but the jury found him guilty of all of them. He received six 99-year concurrent terms on July 16, 1974; the death penalty was not applicable in the cases. The jury took just fifty minutes to deliberate.